Redwood City’s school board may weigh in Wednesday night on whether the district should discipline a Selby Lane School teacher who allegedly knocked over a desk and swore in class last week, prompting a 13-year-old girl to walk out and call 911 from a school bathroom.

In a closed session, the board will discuss the district’s investigation into last Tuesday’s incident at the Atherton campus, trustee Dennis McBride said in an interview Monday. The teacher’s alleged blowup and the district’s reaction in placing him on paid administrative has sparked national and international attention.

“This is our first opportunity to interact as a group on it,” McBride said.

He said he expects the investigation to be “substantially complete” by the meeting, and it’s possible the board may take some sort of action.

But he doesn’t know whether district officials will even recommend that teacher John Haynes be disciplined, McBride said.

“It’s to no one’s advantage to keep these things going forever,” McBride said of the investigation. “You want to be as fast as possible but thorough enough to do justice for all parties. You’re always trying to weigh the rights of the employees and students and get to the truth.”

According to the board’s Wednesday night meeting agenda, trustees will discuss three cases in closed session regarding “employee discipline/dismissal/release.” McBride said the language is used for most types of employee reviews and “you can’t really read into it.”

As first reported by The Daily News, Atherton police went to the school around 2:30 p.m. last Tuesday in response to reports of an eighth-grade math teacher causing a disturbance and possibly throwing objects. In an 11 1/2-minute phone call from inside a school bathroom, the 13-year-old student told the dispatcher Haynes lost control after students failed to answer certain problems.

The student cried at points during the conversation and said she was scared Haynes would discover she was making the phone call. She said her teacher had sworn at some classmates and was so furious he knocked over a desk.

But when police officers arrived, they found both Haynes and his students were calm. Police determined he didn’t throw anything but that when he lifted a desk and dropped it to get his students’ attention it fell on its side.

Atherton police Lt. Joe Wade has also said police learned Haynes had raised his voice and used profanity. He said the girl who called police had recorded some of the tirade before leaving class and that both police and the school district have a copy of the recording.

Because police determined Haynes didn’t threaten any students or commit a crime, the school district is leading the investigation.

In an e-mail Monday, the school district said the investigation isn’t complete and it can’t disclose specifics because of “student privacy rights” and “teacher due process rights.”

“The district understands that the media and the public are very interested in this case and want more information than the district can disclose without potentially violating privacy rights or teacher due process rights,” the e-mail said.

District officials confirmed Monday that Haynes is still on leave since last Tuesday. They say it is not disciplinary action but one that allows them to investigate the case while honoring the rights of the student and teacher.

The district also said it will not reveal any disciplinary action that may result from the investigation.

Redwood City Teachers Association President-elect Bret Baird said he isn’t familiar with the specifics of the case but the union has obtained an attorney for Haynes. He said Haynes has been with the district for about 10 years and is a well-liked teacher.

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